1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle body structure, and more specifically, it relates to a vehicle body structure such as an automobile equipped with a front side member in the front portion of the vehicle body.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heretofore, as a vehicle body structure such as an automobile equipped with a front side member in the front portion of the vehicle body, a front portion longitudinal member, in which a load applied to the front portion longitudinal member is absorbed by a plurality of arms and which is supported in a curving state on a cowl of a frame-free body of the car, has been disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 54-3721, and furthermore, another the vehicle body structure has been disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 63-306985. The body structure in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 63-306985 will be described hereinafter.
As shown in FIG. 17, in this vehicle body structure, a front side member (which may also be called a front side frame) 70 is connected to a front pillar (which may also be called a hinge pillar) 78 via torque boxes 74, 76 formed on the vehicle front side of a dash lower panel 72, and the rear end portion of the front side member 70 is connected to a side sill 82 via a floor frame 80. Therefore, an impact force applied onto the front side member 70 can be dispersed to skeletal members such as the front pillar 78 and the side sill 82.
However, in this vehicle body structure, the impact force applied to the front side member 70 is transmitted to the side sill 82 via the floor frame 80, but during this transmission, the impact force is scarcely absorbed, and thus the absorption amount of the impact force is small.